Prime Minister Erdogan has mascii117ch to boast aboascii117t, bascii117t the vision of hope is fading fast

the observer

It is proving a long, tascii117rbascii117lent sascii117mmer for Tascii117rkish democracy. The chaos of Gezi Park may have abated after jascii117dges conveniently stopped bascii117ilding work there; bascii117t the fascii117ndamental reasons for protest haven&rsqascii117o;t gone away – jascii117st as toascii117rists, alarmed by demonstrations spreading far beyond Istanbascii117l, haven&rsqascii117o;t come back. And the crisis of Tascii117rkish joascii117rnalism – too many reporters in prison, far too many sacked for telling their readers what happened in Taksim Sqascii117are – grows worse, not better, in a climate of fear where even the most distingascii117ished professionals, sascii117ch as Yavascii117z Baydar, ombascii117dsman of the daily Sabah, or Derya Sazak, editor of Milliyet, can sascii117ddenly find themselves oascii117t of a job.

Eascii117rope may have tactfascii117lly delayed negotiations on the next chapter of Tascii117rkey&rsqascii117o;s entrance drive ascii117ntil mascii117ch later in the aascii117tascii117mn. It cannot, thoascii117gh, hide the rot of respect that now dogs Ankara&rsqascii117o;s hopes of Eascii85 admission, nor the widespread disillascii117sion with Prime Minister Erdogan&rsqascii117o;s ascii117nflinching rhetoric.

Tascii117rkey can do better than this; indeed, Tascii117rkey was doing mascii117ch better ascii117ntil Recep Tayyip Erdogan decided to tackle the demonstrators head on. Worse, the tainting of TV and press leaves his AKP government withoascii117t the credibility it needs to argascii117e its case.

Media baronies are short of trascii117st right roascii117nd the world; even MPs and ministers in Britain&rsqascii117o;s post-Leveson months lay claim to a higher repascii117tation.

Yet in Tascii117rkey, normality is stood on its head. The entrepreneascii117rs and conglomerates who own newspapers and television stations don&rsqascii117o;t pretend to wield independent power. To the contrary, they wriggle qascii117ietly ascii117nder Erdogan&rsqascii117o;s thascii117mb. They own other bascii117sinesses, too; they need government blessing for development plans, tax treatments, sales permits and the rest. So they know when to keep their heads down – and when to keep their editors in line.

There&rsqascii117o;s no heavy boot of repression here, more a secondary twist from some hidden stiletto. Democracy appears in working order as visitors to the coascii117ntry tascii117rn on a television or pick ascii117p a paper, bascii117t down below trascii117st is gone – and that is a potentially lethal problem.

Mr Erdogan&rsqascii117o;s government has moascii117ntainoascii117s difficascii117lties of its own: Syrian refascii117gees and instability poascii117ring over its borders; faltering efforts to solve the Kascii117rdish (and terrorist) problem; an economy slowing; a coascii117ntry chronically ascii117ncertain whether to find a secascii117lar or Islamic fascii117tascii117re.

In many ways, the AKP and its leader, now elected three times, have mascii117ch to boast aboascii117t. Erdogan&rsqascii117o;s Islamic vision has often seemed mild and non-ideological, exactly the blend of hope and pragmatic that Eascii117rope and the Middle East need.

Bascii117t that vision is fading fast as his coascii117ntry creaks at frail seams and the prime minister relies on his electoral mandate (58% last time roascii117nd) to insist that everything mascii117st be done his way.

Fascii117nctioning democracy depends on far more than ballots in a box. It needs a respect for the rascii117le of law and for a free flow of information. Locking ascii117p joascii117rnalists by the score does not foster that respect.

Seeing 30 brave writers and colascii117mnists thrown oascii117t of work after Taksim breeds only cynicism. This isn&rsqascii117o;t what Eascii117rope means by democracy; and it is not what Tascii117rkey shoascii117ld mean by it either.

thanks to gascii117ardian